5 Chapter 1.4

Chapter 1.4: Tutorial (IV)

"One of my personal favourites in the Harford Era is the battle of King Hertoil Von Hexarton Ja XV against King Julin Genevy Von Vertulin Ja V, also known as; 'The Fall of Hexarton'." She paused, "They were the inspirations for Lord Hartyler's collection: 'Long Live The King'."

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her pink tinted ear, she took a lone petal stranded on the table into her gentle grasp and inspected it, "King Hertoil ruled the Kingdom of Hexarton, its foundations built from the results of their ancestors' hardwork and bloodshed. Along the years passing, it slowly grew stable mostly due to the methods their families engraved to memory on passing down the teachings and knowledge from when the kingdom was first founded."

"All occupants of the kingdom possessed great intelligence, the nobles even more. The heirs to the throne were all competent alongside the queens chosen, princesses from other kingdoms married in to the royal family's princes and the princesses born were all married to other kingdoms; forming connections across the world. Albeit a few arguments here in there, all was perfectly resolved; the commoners were happy and the kingdom was in great hands, holding a great amount of powerful soldiers and being known for their wisdom."

Balancing the petal on her index finger, it made no motion despite the breeze caressing its fragile body. Her droopy eyes shifted to collide with his gaze with a hidden smile, "But just like all the prospering kingdoms of the Harford Era, they were merely among the many weak kingdoms compared to the powerhouses that took up lands upon many and the few great empires that ruled an entire continent."

The pressure of the previously weak breeze evolved into an avalanche of wind blowing against the trees with howls, a horde of petals flew past the two seated individuals and the lone petal that sat upon her finger trembled ever so slightly.

"The Harford Era, despite hosting prospering kingdoms and empires, was an era that emitted the nauseating smell of death; soldiers who left their loved ones for the selfishness of their country's ruler, and innocent civilians whose lives were sacrificed for the failures of their leader. Many kingdoms and empires rendered into ruins from wars due to one thing they all had in common; ambition."

Scattered along the floor were petals left in a state so pitiful, while some made their way onto the stone table and still; the petal standing on her finger moved only an inch.

"The ambition to become one of the great empires capable of ruling an entire continent, to unite all kingdoms or to rule the entire world. The desire to be imprinted onto the pages of history that listed their achievements." Her unoccupied fingers rhythmically tapped onto the surface of the table.

"And the successor of the previous king, King Hertoil, had such desire." Her lips hooked to a smile as she continued, "Managing to accomplish the feat of conquering kingdoms without much casualties coupled with having an allegiance and the support of multiple kingdoms, the kingdom of Hexarton had become one of the many powerhouses."

Half of the petals on the table were swiped away as the petal on her finger gazed on with indifference.

"Naturally, there was a dispute amongst the citizens. Some approved of the King's methods and believed in their rise to become a great empire, while there were those who disapproved and preferred peace while holding the fear that the kingdom will receive the same fate as all the other kingdoms whose kings had the same goal. But despite having opposed the king's decision, none had voiced out their opinions in fear of their lives if they were heard daring to question the king. Thus, the citizens remained in silent harmony, unaware of those chaining the fear in their hearts."

"Then came the kingdom of Vertulin, ruled by King Julin Genevy Von Vertulin; the first commoner to ever succeed the throne with the support of the commoners and a few nobles." She picked up a petal significantly smaller than the petal in her other hand.

"Containing an army so small, with their population so meagre compared to the kingdom of Hexarton, they were known to be a relatively new kingdom that started only a few decades ago. King Hertoil prepared his army whilst overestimating his opponents despite how small they were, he knew never to underestimate for the consequences could be dire." She blinked when Zhong Renjun finally voiced out his thoughts.

"King Julin, despite being of low birth, was a competent ruler. The previous royal family was a target in schemes and scandals, misfortune had befallen them when the corruption behind them was exposed. He was previously a reputable scholar who was fairly decent in the art of war and strategy and had good relations with the commoners and a few aristocrats. With a voting system of the king candidates, he was chosen as the successor to the throne. Unfortunately, after he was crowned, he had not managed to dispose of all the corrupt individuals in the previous king's court, the aristocrats who opposed him and the problems the previous royal family had left to him after perishing before King Hertoil had decided on his moment of attack." He pulled out the pink camellia from his chest pocket and twirled it ever so slowly in his fingers.

"With so many factors in the way and King Hertoil threatening the life of him and his kingdom, how did the kingdom of Hexarton truly fall into ruins as the golden pages of history had stated? How did King Julin end up with little to no casualties in the battle against a behemoth? Would you like to state your views, lady Nevanna?" Leaving his sight from the slow waltz of the pink petals, he made eye contact with Nevanna; not missing the sight of her raised brow and the smile hanging on her lips.

The only situation in where Jaqelheim was willing to speak up from a sentence to a paragraph, was during topics related to history. As a fellow history fanatic, Nevanna fully understood Jaqelheim's feelings. Zhong Renjun observed the woman seated in front of him, he had very limited information of the battle between Hexarton and Vertulin and had to rely on speculations and other books or pages of history that were connected to the event.

"Unfortunately, other than the coup d'état, I can only think of King Julin taking advantage of the land structure around the kingdom and making use of it to counter King Hertoil's army of ten thousand."

"A good guess my lady, but I'm afraid that's not enough to fully stop him." Picking up a soft heart-shaped petal, he asked, "I'm sure you have heard of the famous love story told in the inns of the kingdom of Harvy?"

Slightly baffled from the sudden change of topic, she replied, "You mean the tale of Lady Gremlaine?" She pondered, "but what does that have to do with this?"

"King Julin was known for his wisdom and perspective of the world," Ignoring her question, he continued, "he knew of knowledge far more vast than the other scholars of the Harford Era. But knowledge was limited even in books, back then he couldn't even afford information with his measly money balance—despite being a well known scholar—much less create his own intelligence network. So, before the royal family of Vertulin collapsed, he travelled throughout the continents and gathered intel. Harvy, previously known as Harper, was one of the many countries he had stayed in the most."

Nevanna tilted her head as he explained; still not getting it, and so he asked, "What was the name of the inn Lady Gremlaine had visited?"

"If I'm not wrong, it was called 'MoonLight Haven'. . ."

"Do you remember what she said when she became acquainted with the man in the feathered hat?"

". . . 'You may call me Lady Gremlaine. A shame I am unable to reveal the truth to you for I am far too famous. But if you're still persistent, you can try prying little boy'. . . I don't quite get what you're hinting at?"

"Lady Gremlaine was never her true name, and she was quite famous so her true identity might have been important." He slightly pinched the petal in his grasp.

"But wasn't Lady Gremlaine the queen of the kingdom of Vertulin? What do you mean it's not her actual name?"

"Queen Ferilaine Tagrem Von Hexarton, King Hertoil's beloved queen." He looked at Nevanna's face for a reaction whilst not answering her question.

While she remained in a daze as the queen's name was suddenly brought up, she took a moment to register his word before her pupils dilated, "Wait, don't tell me she's—"

"Indeed she is. Now, lady Nevanna, do you remember the ending of the tale?"

Still struck in a stupor from the sudden revelation, she took a while to snap out of it before recalling a certain memory.

'. . . The two lovers had to part, an inevitable goodbye. Both had roles of importance and had no other choice but to move on to their original paths. The man with the feathered hat tipped his head with acknowledgement,

"Remember Gremlaine, my love for you is undying; remember me!"

The heating tears in her reddish eyes glistened before a smile graced her lips, "And so is mine, let fate bring us together once again!"

And so they were torn apart, and they could only hope for fate to intertwine their paths together once again.

Lady Gremlaine caressed the locket on her neck, the symbol of a bird soaring with spread wings engraved into its golden coat. . .'

Interrupting her thoughts, Zhong Renjun spoke up, "I'm sure you know of King Julin's history."

Taking a moment to calm herself, she searched her memory for anything related to King Julin. He explored countries. . . Had a weird fascination with birds and their feathers. . . Visited Harper. . . The inn; MoonLight Haven. . . A locket. . . His favourite pocket watch. . .

Then, she remembered, the portrait of King Julin recorded in the history books. All of them had one thing in common and that was—a pocket watch tied around his right wrist turned in an angle that allowed one to see the symbol of a perched bird.

Then she recalled an event told from the tale of Lady Gremlaine,

'. . . "Gremlaine, when the day comes that fate has decided to tear us apart, hold onto this locket and wait for me." The man with the feathered hat placed a beautiful golden locket into her palms, before pressing her fingers against it; caressing the soaring bird engraved into its coat.

"Let it remind you of me, soaring throughout the world looking for you. A sign of freedom that I will soon grant you when we reunite." He gazed into her eyes with sincere thoughts.

But Lady Gremlaine knew such a dream would never come true. So, to not break his hopes, she gave him a smile with the corners of her eyes burning with tears.

"Thank you, my love." She pressed her forehead against his.

"Then as you look at your pocket watch, let it remind you of me, waiting for you in eternity. Even if I was to belong to another, let it be known that my loyalty stays with you for I would never marry another man other than you with choice." She caressed the perched bird carved into his pocket watch, before she held his wrist up to her lips and kissed it. . .'

She couldn't believe she had forgotten about King Julin's iconic pocket watch and had always thought that Lady Gremlaine had moved on from the man with the feathered hat—to think that instead, they had reunited and became the King and Queen of the Vertulin Kingdom!

Witnessing the look of recognition on her face, Zhong Renjun mentally smiled, "Now, try recalling what happened to the queen whilst the coup d'état occured the moment King Hertoil sent his army away."

Her lips parted and a gaping hole formed, "I remember! While King Hertoil's army had moved to the kingdom of Vertulin, he was fending himself with the little men he had stationed with him against one of his brothers who started a coup d'état all the while his queen had disappeared, along with all of his supporters."

Zhong Renjun explained, "Queen Ferilaine was loved amongst the population of the kingdom of Hexarton, compared to King Hertoil who was merely only ever involved in politics and never tried to increase his reputation amongst the population. Almost every citizen was loyal to the queen, and that included the aristocrats and most of the soldiers in the army. It was inferred that his brother, who had started the coup d'état, his success was mostly due to the support of the queen. And anyone can guess that during her disappearance, she had been helping King Julin all along and had managed to get rid of the king's supporters as well as manipulate the army from the sidelines."

"The casualties being the king, everyone who was loyal to the king—deceased, and one dead from the kingdom of Vertulin."

Nevanna's eyes glistened as her entire view of the event was changed from the reveals, not expecting that the famous love story would be connected to this event, and that the queen and king were in it together, "But then, how did Queen Ferilaine know that the man with the feathered hat was the ruler of the kingdom of Vertulin? Their affair dated back to long before he was crowned and King Hertoil had attacked his kingdom, Queen Ferilaine didn't even know his name nor did she leave the palace to bother finding him ever since she got married."

Placing the pink camellia on the table, he brought his gaze to her, "As I had said, there was one casualty from King Julin's side."

"And that casualty wasn't a soldier, but a messenger. If you can recall that King Julin had sent a messenger with a scroll to King Hertoil to negotiate for peace upon hearing the news of his army marching over, the message was never answered and neither did the messenger ever return. Back then, the portraits of those who wrote the message would always be engraved into the scroll. If the Queen had managed to find out, then that only meant that she was with the king as they read the scroll together. It was always required for both the king and queen to read the scroll if there were negotiations."

Nevanna seemed to have been struck with inspiration as her eyes brightened.

"With the success of King Hertoil's brother's coup d'état, and the joining of hands between King Julin and Queen Ferilaine, the Kingdom of Hexarton had fallen and was soon replaced with; the 'Kingdom of Ferilaine' or 'Ferilaine Kingdom', with the use of the Queen's name to honor her after she had disappeared and was assumed dead after the fall of King Hertoil, whilst King Julin had suddenly gained a queen whose name was never revealed and barely showed herself to the public; and before it was later revealed to be 'Gremlaine' when everyone had seemingly forgotten about the entirety of the kingdom of Hexarton."

The petal in his grasp flew towards the flower, while the large petal on Nevanna's finger fell to the stone floor and the smaller petal was carried by the wind to the flower as well.

"Amazing, to think that a love story would be connected to a historical event. . . " Nevanna felt the rapid beating against her chest, she felt as if she was a witness and had travelled back to the Harford Era.

"But, I didn't say it was the truth." Picking up the drooping flower, he placed it back into his chest pocket.

". . . What?" She looked at him in confusion.

"I didn't live in the Harford Era, I'm not that old." He seemed to be joking, but his monotonous tone and stoic face said otherwise.

"Only those who lived and witnessed the event knows the truth. Everything said was my own speculation as I try to connect the dots." He leaned against the backrest of his chair. Zhong Renjun wasn't lying, he had indeed tried to connect the dots and came up with theories on the spot. Now, he was mentally tired, and thus he shut his eyes to rest.

Nevanna was plunged into another wave of shock and confusion. What he said was true, but she couldn't help but believe his words. There, just like Valforey did, she had viewed the man in an entirely different light. She, after all, couldn't believe that it was a mere coincidence—Queen Ferilaine Tagrem and Queen Gremlaine had to be the same person!

Especially when you pieced the 'laine' from 'Ferilaine', and the 'grem' from 'Tagrem' together. After arranging them, you'd get 'Gremlaine'.

But now that she thought about it. . .

"Doesn't this situation sound similar to today's matters in the kingdom?"

Her words brought Zhong Renjun to lift his eyes, curiosity masked behind his long lashes.

"Care to elaborate?"

"The Queen of Hearts has disappeared, and the king had sent most of his soldiers to deal with the trouble in the east whilst sending some of the remaining ones in search parties for the queen. The citizens are in unease due to the very little security left to protect the kingdom and the disappearance of their beloved queen, voicing out their opinions to call back some of the troops in which the king had ignored. Thus, the dangers and threats within and outside of the kingdom had increased. A foolish king, they said."

A familiar voice had once again resounded through his head.

[Task completed: Investigate the matters of the kingdom]

[Added 5% to host's conquer rate and rewarded host with 10 points]

[World Conquering: 5%

Amount of points: 10]

He rejoiced inside, he didn't have to leave the mansion to investigate. While thinking of the current situation, he recited the words Gavenlorn Hartyler had said when he was inspired by the 'Fall of Hexarton'.

"Long live the king."